Republican David Kustoff was overwhelmingly elected Tuesday as representative for Tennessee ’s 8th Congressional District, defeating Democratic contender Rickey Hobson. The Associated Press called the race with Kustoff leading with partial results showing 86,126 votes to 32,882 votes — a margin of 66.47 percent to 25.38 percent.

He was one of five candidates who bought TV ads, which helped him spread his message over a big geographic area.

The sprawling district covers much of West Tennessee, from the Mississippi line to the Kentucky state line. It includes part of Memphis and its eastern suburbs as well as all of Jackson and Union City.

Kustoff, a Germantown resident, attorney and former head of the federal prosecutor’s office in Memphis, will succeed incumbent Stephen Fincher, a farmer from a tiny community in Crockett County called Frog Jump.

The race began in February, when Fincher announced he wouldn’t seek re-election, and within hours candidates were making froglike jumps of their own, into the race.

The route to a win went through the Republican party. Tennessee’s Legislature redrew District 8 in 2010 in ways that made it even more Republican, longtime Republican activist Jimmy Wallace said earlier this year. Democratic-leaning rural counties on the district’s eastern edge were cut out. Republican-friendly territory in suburban Memphis was added.

Shelby County emerged with two distinctly different Congressional districts: The 9th is 66 percent African-American, according to U.S. Census data, and considered a reliable Democratic seat.

Meanwhile, the 8th District is 76 percent white, according to Census data — a demographic that in the South leans heavily Republican.

The District 8 candidates ran this year as conservatives, working the word into their advertising taglines. For instance, Kelsey presented himself as the “proven conservative.” Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell ran under the tagline “Honest. Dependable. Conservative.” Kustoff, who went on to win, ran as a “law-and-order” conservative.

At a candidate forum in June, seven of the candidates said they supported Donald Trump.

Dr. George Flinn, a radiologist and broadcast company owner, poured millions of dollars of his own money into the race. Kustoff and others raised money from donors.

The contest rules did not require a majority of votes to win, and in the end, Kustoff received 27 percent of the vote, compared with 23 percent for Flinn, 18 percent for Luttrell, and 13 percent for Kelsey.

Brad Greer, a Jackson businessman, aimed to position himself as the most serious candidate from outside Shelby County, but received only 11 percent of the vote.